Thursday, May 28, 2015

These are the top albums from 2000-2009 according to Dave’s Music Database, which factors in sales, chart data, awards, and appearances on best-of lists. All but four of these make the DMDB’s Top 1000 Albums of All Time list.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Happy birthday to Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman on this day in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. He has become one of rock music’s most iconic performers and his name is synonymous with the term “folk rock.” In celebration, here are his top albums according to Dave’s Music Database, which factors in sales, chart data, awards, and appearances on best-of lists.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

This is a list of the #1 albums of all time according to the UK album charts. It includes all albums logging eight weeks or more at the top. For albums logging the same number of weeks at #1, they are listed in order of highest ranking according to Dave’s Music Database. This list was originally posted on Facebook on 4/19/11. and updated on 5/23/15.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Below is a list of the top 1000 albums of all time, according to Dave’s Music Database. To see more details about the creation and goals of this list, click on the appropriate link below or just head straight to the list.

When I set out to create this list as the 20th century was drawing to a close, my aim was to compile a “best of the best” list; that is, combine all the other “best-of” lists out there into one. The goal in averaging multiple lists together was to weed out the idiocyncrisies of individual lists and create a more objective, definitive best-of list. Here are links to the lists, chart information, and sales data that went into the creation of the DMDB 1000:

One of the huge bonuses in compiling lots of lists is the better representation of multiple genres of music. Most lists are very skewered toward post-‘50s rock and roll. By pooling lists from multiple sources, the DMDB 1000 represents classical, show tunes, jazz, folk, country, R&B, rock and roll, adult contemporary, pop, rap, and more.

Representing multiple genres poses a challenge, however. There are cases where there are multiple versions of the same work. When that occurred, all versions are compiled into one entry. This possibility most likely occurred in one of three situations:

classical works that are recorded multiple times (example: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations is listed as being composed by Bach in 1741 and no specific recordings of that work are noted).

cast album recordings that later surfaced as soundtracks as well (example: 1959’s The Sound of Music cast album and 1965’s soundtrack version are listed as one entry under 1959 and credited to writers Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II).

British rock albums in the mid-‘60s that were slightly altered when they hit American shores (example: The Beatles U.K. album With the Beatles was released in the U.S., with some alterations, as Meet the Beatles!. The first release is generally what is listed).

In addition to the aforementioned re-definings of what makes an album an album, the DMDB also wanted to be as inclusive as possible in different formats of albums. Some best-of lists, for example, disregard compilations or live recordings and focus only on studio efforts. As such, the DMDB 1000 list contains standard studio albums alongside “specialty albums,” noted by the following codes: compilations (G), box sets (box), live recordings (live), soundtracks (ST), cast albums (cast), various artists collections (VA), classical works (classical), operas (opera), and Christmas recordings (X).

The more inclusive approaches described above diminished the merits of presenting this as a ranked list. Any list generates enough heat about what makes the cut and what doesn’t without a debate over why an album is ranked at #999 instead #998. However, a debate over whether Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is a more important work than Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is most likely to keep people firmly entrenched in their genre camps. By not focusing on where an album is on the list, the focus becomes, more appropriately, why it makes the list. Since all the albums link to individual DMDB pages, you can check out those justifications for yourself and see if you think the album is list worthy.

Another benefit of presenting this list chronologically is how it shows the emergence of new public tastes and the development of the album over the years. Combined with the no-genres-excluded approach, this makes for a fascinating observation of how entire musical genres dominated at different times. In a nutshell, one can see the following trends:

the dominance of classical works, which would later fit into an album-length format, from the pre-20th century era through the first quarter of the 20th century (Beethoven, Bach)

the rise of cast recordings of hugely successful Broadway productions in roughly the second quarter of the 20th century (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

the beginnings of “albums” recorded by single artists with the predominace of jazz recordings in the ‘40s and ‘50s (Miles Davis, John Coltrane)

the birth of rock & roll in the mid-‘50s (led by Elvis Presley) through to the early-‘60s British Invasion (led by The Beatles)

the explosion of the album as a true force in the ‘60s (The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones)

the development of the album rock format in the late-‘60s and early-‘70s (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd)

the rise of the superstar mega-selling albums of the late-‘70s and early-‘80s (Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen)

the emergence of critically acclaimed indie and experimental albums in the ‘80s (U2, REM, Talking Heads)

the move toward albums that seemed to launch their own genres in the ‘90s (Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day)

the attempt to keep the album format alive in the 21st century with music that harkens back to earlier decades (The Strokes, The White Stripes)

It should be acknowledged that listing these albums chronologically is not as easy as it sounds. Even if this were just a list of standard studio efforts, release dates aren’t always available and sometimes an album’s first chart appearance (c.) had to be used. In some cases, neither date was available and an album and it was just listed by year of release. Further complicating the matter was the issue of multiple recordings, such as show tunes or classical works discussed above. In such cases, these works may be listed by various dates including when the album or work was written or composed (w.), first performed (p.), or opened on Broadway (b.).

Compilations and live albums are listed by the date of recording (rec.) instead of release. For example, The Beatles 1967-1970 is a greatest hits collection that was released in 1973, but recorded from 1967-1970. Its date notation is (rec. 1967-70, released 4/2/73), meaning the album is listed under ‘1970.’